Go-to Guy

Kalispell man's company known for completing complex jobs

Tim Miller is not faster than a speeding bullet, nor can he leap tall buildings in a single bound. He can, however, transform a magnesium block into a movie camera from his Kalispell machine shop. He can also solve everyday annoyances like disorganized freezers and messy tents.

He might not be a super hero, but Miller prides himself on his ability to do a job well, no matter how complicated it might be.

"Wherever I worked, I was always the guy that got the tough job," he said.

He built his company's reputation on that can-do attitude. Compatible Manufacturing is known for completing complex jobs, he said.

One of its most recent assignments was building the body for Genesis, Panavision's newest high-end digital movie camera, used for the first time to shoot "Superman Returns." Panavision is a motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras; it has contracted with Miller since the late '90s.

"Since then, we've been very happy with the quality of product he's been producing for us," said Al Mayer Jr., vice president of Panavision.

The Genesis camera is unique because of its similarity to a traditional 35mm film movie camera, which is commonly used to shoot motion pictures.

"It emulates a film camera; it looks and feels just like one," Mayer said. "We say it's a film camera that shoots digitally."

Compatible Manufacturing is responsible only for the camera body, Miller explained, not the lenses or buttons or things that make it work. The square body and face plate are made in Kalispell; other parts are built in Miller's Santa Clara, Calif., plant.

"The Panavision camera has a high 'cool' factor because everyone knows who Superman is and knows what a motion picture is," he said.

Other products aren't as well-known but are by no means less cool - or hot, as the case may be. Compatible Manufacturing has made metal housings for thermal decoys on F-16s. The decoys give off the same heat signature as the jet's engine, Miller said, so infrared missiles hit the decoy instead of the plane.

"It probably ends up being a $20,000 match," he said.

Complex projects have been part of Miller's repertoire since he began working as a machinist in the late '70s in the Silicon Valley. He eventually became known as the go-to guy for complicated projects.

His work is the result of a fascination that began when Miller was a child. He loved to sit on the steps and watch his grandfather, a machinist, work in his shop, he said.

"It used to mesmerize me as a kid," he said.

Miller learned more technical skills while attending McKee Career & Technical High School in New York City. He stayed at the tech school for two-and-a-half years, then moved with his family to San Jose, Calif., in the middle of his junior year.

The summer after that, Miller scored a job at a machine shop. He had every intention of returning to school for his senior year, but decided that since he was already making money doing what he wanted to do after graduation, there wasn't much point finishing high school.

"It was kind of the right decision for me," he said. "I've never been a very good student or follower."

He stopped and laughed. "Maybe had I finished high school, I could have made something of myself," he said.

Lacking a diploma didn't prevent Miller from becoming a sought-after machinist in the Silicon Valley, nor did it keep him from landing contracts to build complex parts.

But in addition to solving high-tech problems, Miller wants to find answers for everyday annoyances. For a chaotic, disorganized chest freezer, Compatible Manufacturing makes Freezer Totes, stackable bins to organize those stacks of frozen meat. To store and display snowboards, the company sells wall-mounted racks called Boogers.

"Mostly all the items we sell are things that I needed," Miller said.

He was hunting when he came up with the idea for Tent Mates. There is no place to put anything in a wall tent, he said; everything ends up tossed on the ground.

Miller's solution was simple: aluminum hooks that attach to tent frames, with wooden dowels to hang everything from towels to lanterns.

Everything is made in Miller's two shops.

The 6,000-square foot Kalispell shop has five employees. In Santa Clara, 23 people work in a 10,000-square foot shop. The California shop is responsible for about 70 percent of the company's revenue, Miller said.

He still spends some time in California but has no regrets about moving to the Flathead in 1999. The quality of life is better here, Miller said, and there are no limitations working in Montana while maintaining the business in Santa Clara.

"I have great people in California and great people here," he said.

On the Net: http://www.compatiblemanufacturing.com

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.